In what is sure to be a strange and slightly heart wrenching game, the Boston Bruins (4-4-0) will go head to head against the New York Islanders (4-2-0) and their old friend Johnny Boychuk.

This game marks the first time since that god awful trade that Johnny Boychuk, a former Bruins defensemen and all around great guy, will return to the garden and will be the second time in his decade long career that he will step on to the ice in anything other than Black and Gold.

I expect tonight to be more than a little emotional, with the players on both sides noting how strange it's going to be playing against their former teammate(s). But we all know the Bruins faithful will give a warm welcome to one of our favorite defensemen. I also am secretly hoping he scores tonight, just as a final slap in the face to Chiarelli for being an idiot and letting him go. I am also looking forward to the montage that is sure to come with his return.

I mean, let's be honest, letting go of Boychuk for draft picks was arguably one of the worst trades the Bruins have made in recent years, outside of maybe that one time we traded Joe Thornton for a bunch of guys who are now entirely irrelevant. Since the trade, all Bruins fans have heard about is how well he's doing this season. In the last 6 games for the Islanders, Boych has 2 goals and 4 assists with a +4 rating, compared to last season where he ended up with 5 goals and 18 assists over the course of 85+ games. Hey Chia, you feel dumb yet? Good, because you should you idiot.

I should also probably mention that Chad Johnson, the Bruins back up goalie last year, will also be making his return to the Garden after he left the team as an unrestricted free agent during the off season. Johnson was 17-4-3 for the Bruins last year with a 2.10 GAA and a .925 save percentage. So that should also be a fun thing to keep an eye on.

Anyways, the only Bruins player injured right now is Kevan Miller, which isn't necessarily the end of the world seeing as we haven't actually seen him that much this season yet. So for all intents and purposes, the Bruins are still uninjured, even the defense, and it's a miracle.

The Islanders are coming into tonight's game possibly without Grabovski, who is out with a concussion, and Travis Hamonic, who is out with an upper body injury. This loss of Grabovski could be huge for the Islanders, since Grabovski has been a big help offensively with two goals and one assist in four games. We'll see how the Bruins take advantage of this hole in the Islanders offense if it appears.

Bruins Projected Line Up

Team Stats

Team: The Islanders are coming into this game after a 5-1 loss to the Maple Leafs, who I sometimes forget are actually capable of winning games. Even so, they're currently first in Metropolitan Division, which I'm a little surprised at considering who is actually in that division. The last time the Islanders played the Bruins was on October 3rd and they lost 6-1. The Islanders are quite the enigma in the sense that they can lose so catastrophically in one game and then still manage to be at the top of the division. I don't know if that says something about they're perseverance or about how terrible the division is. In terms of last season, the Islanders were 21-18-2 during away games and an overall record of 34-37-11.

Players: John Tavares is currently on fire with 10 points in six games. Strome has two points in his last two games and four in his past four games. The combination of Tavares and Boychuk is definitely something I plan on keeping an eye out for during the game.

Goalie: Chad Johnson will make his return to the Bruins ice in net tonight. On this season Johnson has played in 2 games with a 1-0-0 record with a 2.25 GAA and a .897 save percentage.

Team: The Bruins are coming into this game after a back and forth 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks. The Bruins have a bit of an extra burden to bear during this game with the return of Boychuk and knowing that losing him was such a huge mistake. As of right now, the Bruins are fifth in the Atlantic Division behind teams like the Red Wings and the Canadiens. The Bruins are currently on a 2 game win streak, which will hopefully become a 3 game streak tonight.

Players: Krug has one goal in each of his last two games while Chris Kelly, who is still blowing my mind this season, has five assists during a four game point streak.

Goalie: Back up goalie vs. back up goalie tonight with Svedberg in between the pipes tonight for the Bruins. Svedberg has a shut out streak of 72:21 over three games. He currently has a record of 1-1-0 with .91 GAA and a .969 save percentage.